Long Live Life
by Aimael
Summary: 25 facts about one life in particular – Harry Potter's; Saviour, Auror, Orphan, Friend, Husband, Father. Good, bad, and everything in between. Rating for themes.


Long live life

_by Aimael_

_Betaed:_ by myself only. Please exuse possible mistakes!

_Summary:_ 25 facts about one life in particular – Harry Potter's, Saviour, Auror, Orphan, Friend, Husband, Father. Good, bad, and everything in between.

_A/N:_ This has been waiting for me to post it for over a year, so I figure it's time now. Yes, it's one of those cliché "25 facts that you didn't know about insertnamehere", and I'm still very proud of it. What does that tell you about me? It's as canon as I can make it, while still harbouring the belief that the Dursleys were abusive, and that it affected Harry a bit more than we actually see in the books.

_Warning:_ Mentions and descriptions of non-graphic child abuse. That's what the rating is for as well.

Enjoy, and when you're done, please leave a review!

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**I**.

When he was five, he broke his plate when he took it from the table to the sink, and his aunt gave him a concussion by hitting him in the head with a frying pan. He was out cold for four days and woke up in a hospital somewhere. That was when he realized his aunt or uncle could possibly kill him _by accident_ someday and not regret it one bit. It scared him.

After that, he became really good at dodging things. He thinks that is why he's so good at Quidditch.

**II**.

The first time he saw Ron he didn't see the red hair, the freckles, the second-hand clothes or the anxiousness in his eyes. He saw a possible bully. That changed as soon as they started to talk, of course, and he would never admit it to anyone. The first time he saw Hermione he saw a just as uncertain person as himself. That also changed as soon as they began to talk. That made him even more unconfident and could explain why he barely spoke another word to her until Halloween.

**III**.

He cried without stopping for five hours when he came "home" after fifth year. He pleaded, sobbed and tried to convince himself that his Godfather wasn't dead. After that, he didn't shed a single tear until he got back to Hogwarts. He got into some kind of apathy instead. He needed Molly Weasley's, Ron's and Hermione's combined efforts to get him out, even if neither he nor they realized at the time.

**IV**.

He had learned the hard way that everything is much simpler (_and you don't get hurt as much_) if you are invisible, so he tried very hard to be. He understood just the second day of classes that it would be impossible. Everyone had heard too much about him; everyone expected too much of him. Then he tried to live up to those expectations; very discretely, of course, and one small step at a time. It almost got him killed. Every year. He didn't realize how much of himself he had acted until fifth year, when he finally tried to be "just Harry", and ended up with a horrible temper, another scar to his collection, more detentions he had had in his whole life and a self-centred girlfriend.

After that he stopped trying so much.

**V**.

His primary school teacher discovered parts of the Dursley's treatment of him when he was nine. She told him that she would be there for him if he wanted to talk, and because it wasn't really abuse, she couldn't do very much about it. Then, she only knew of him doing almost all of the chores and Aunt Petunia's glares. The one time he had found enough courage to explain more to her, she told him, very kindly, that perhaps they could talk after school, because she had a disaster on her hands with three seven-year-olds right now? Then he waited for surely ten minutes after school for her to appear, before he didn't dare to linger any longer.

He never told anyone anything more.

**VI**.

He truly can't understand why Ginny waited for him for a whole year when he had broken up with her and hurt her so much. He will forever be more grateful than she can ever know that she did.

**VII**.

Ginny let him name James. He did, though they both knew what he would choose. She also let him name Al, where the names were a little more of a surprise for his wife. When it came to Lily, he suggested _Lily Nymphadora_ or _Lily Molly_ or _Lily Ginevra_, and she said that he had horrible taste in names and chose for herself. Personally, he thinks that _Lily Luna_ is pretty, but much too dull for their vibrant daughter. He thinks that _Lily Nymphadora_ would have been a perfect name. He would of course never tell either of his girls this.

**VIII**.

When he had to go to Azkaban for the first time, delivering a new prisoner to the thankfully very human guards, sensing the presence of Dementors, he believes he was more afraid than the prisoner was.

**IX**.

The week before Ron's and Hermione's wedding, both of them Flooed him, looking anxious, and told him that nothing would change. That it was still the three of them, that didn't have to change, even though they were marrying each other and he was married to Ginny. They would come back after their honeymoon and everything would be normal – Ron would still be his best friend, and Hermione would still be his best friend.

He nodded and smiled and said of course, and he didn't believe a word.

**X**.

Later that week, he realized that it didn't matter, because he still had Ginny, and even though things change, it doesn't have to be for worse, and so he was completely honest when he wished them all luck before they Apparated to the Airport.

**XI**.

He went to search for the Resurrection Stone once. He found it, too. He stood for a while and just looked at it, remembering.

Then he smiled, and buried it deeper in the ground with his foot.

**XII**.

His favourite joke has always been the one about two tomatoes who went over a road. He once mentioned this to Ron, who looked completely bewildered. When he finally realised that the Wizarding World had never heard it, he decided to tell the joke to everyone he met. So far, only Luna has found it funny, and that puzzles him a little, since he doubts Luna knows what a car and ketchup actually is.

He has always liked Luna.

**XIII**.

He didn't cry for Remus, because, even though he regrets this now, he had next to no relationship with the man. At first, he was a teacher and a link to his parents. A year later, he was a friend of Sirius'. Then he was the husband of Tonks. The father of Teddy. The last Marauder. Of course Harry wishes the werewolf still was alive, but they were never friends. They didn't even get along very well. Funnily enough, Harry always felt comfortable around Tonks, who he met, often very briefly, less than twenty times in total. He supposes this is the highest form of irony.

**XIV**.

McGonagall has been his favourite teacher since fifth year, when he began to think of her as a Quidditch-loving, proud fighter of a human being, instead of a strict, almost harsh woman who lived to catch students out of bed at night. Umbrigde could take all the credit, if she wanted to.

**XV**.

He had his own bed in the Hospital Wing. He doesn't know why Madam Pomfrey always gave him the same bed every time he happened to be hurt in some way, but after a while, it almost becomes a joke. He always smiles when he remembers her hurrying from one bed to another two days after the final battle, when he comes in with a broken arm he had gained from trying to remove a slither from a staircase – a part of the restoration work –, and she takes one look at the dirty, bloody Saviour Of The Wizarding World, and says;

"Well, Potter, what are you standing there for? I'll be by your bed in a minute, I have to give Miss Brown her Blood Replenishing Potion first. Take a Pain Reliever if you hurt too much, you know very well where they are…"

**XVI**.

He thinks of Teddy as his own son, just as much as James and Albus. So it almost broke his heart to see his oldest son of another's blood trying desperately not to cry just after James' birth, telling his Godfather that he could move to Granma Andromeda's place, now when Harry had his own son and didn't need Teddy anymore. Harry hadn't known what to say or what to do, and thinks to this day that he could have handled that situation better.

**XVII**.

When Al was really small, before James started to tease him all the time, he idolised his brother. This wouldn't have been a problem, if Harry and Ginny hadn't gotten the kids a small, grey kitten. The only time Harry had been close to hitting one of his children was when Jamie and Al tried to give the kitten a bath and Ginny had needed to cast a Reviving Charm to make it breathe again. Harry had been furious, and had already raised his hand to give James a solid smack, when he spotted Albus behind his brother, looking terrified for the older boy's sake, Lily's inherited green eyes staring up towards his father, and looking so similar to how he himself must have looked at Al's age or a few years older, when his uncle was angry.

Harry felt so guilty that night that he slept a total of seventy minutes, and even if Ginny didn't make a big deal out of it – Jamie deserved that spank, she said and shook her head –, Harry never raised his hand to one of his or one of the Weasley's children again.

**XVIII**.

He has never felt worse than he did at Fred's funeral, with all his loved ones crying, grieving, and he himself missing his almost-brother so much that it hurt.

**XIX**.

He has always, always used the phrase "I'm fine" when he was quite the opposite. If woken from a nightmare, if asked how he was doing, if hurt or injured in some way, Harry's answer was always "I'm fine". Ginny detests it, and makes him sleep on the couch every time he utters the words.

**XX**.

Despite what people may think, he actually likes cooking. When Molly was ill for a few days the summer he turned nineteen, he cooked almost all the food. The Weasleys were actually shocked that he could cook so well, and when he mentioned having to cook for his relatives since he was a kid, they were horrified, and tried to drag him from the kitchen and tell him that really, it was no need, someone else could… He just smiled, said that it wasn't the cooking he had problems with, it was the Dursleys, and continued anyway.

**XXI**.

He still thinks Peter Pettigrew deserved worse than he got, and he doesn't care if that makes him a lesser man.

**XXII**.

He dreamed his last nightmare the night after Lily was born. It featured a man-eating purple Hippogriff, lots of confusing colours and something that looked like a mix of the Burrow and the Chamber of Secrets. It was almost anticlimactic, and he actually laughed at his fears when he woke up. He doesn't dream at night anymore, and frankly, he thinks that is relieving.

**XXIII**.

When the informal Weasley Quidditch games start up again each spring, he is mindlessly, deliriously happy.

**XXIV**.

He didn't get on well with Andromeda at first after that terrible first impression. They managed to keep civil and disagree in silence when Teddy was nearby, but they shouted and swore at each other when he wasn't present. They still do, though now it's because they enjoy those screaming matches and because they don't know how to stop. Teddy thinks they are weird.

**XXV**.

Every Monday morning, he has to remind himself that he's doing something good for the world and that he would be terribly bored after a few weeks, if he quit his job. Every Monday morning.

It never helps much; just barely enough to make him stay an Auror.

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_A/N:_ Review, please! I'd love to hear what you think about the story, and the Dursleys. Are they as bad as I think they are? Are they worse? Or are the things they do in the books the worst they do?


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